About Henry M. Brickell, Chairman

Henry M. (Mitch) Brickell founded Policy Studies in Education in 1973 and has directed the work of its over 500 projects. He has addressed local, state, and national audiences of teachers, administrators, school board members, legislators, and citizens in most states over the past 55 years. He was named one of the first Distinguished Professors of the National Academy for School Executives, operated by the American Association of School Administrators for the training of administrators.

Dr. Brickell created the Davies–Brickell System of School Board Policy Making and Administration, which is the basis for the policy systems used today in most school districts nationwide, and he is a nationally recognized expert in the training of school board members. His policy system has served as the foundation for PSE’s project work in numerous school districts and training sessions conducted in most states in the U.S.

Early in his career while on special assignment to Commissioner James E. Allen, Jr., at the New York State Education Department, Dr. Brickell wrote the landmark book on educational innovation, Organizing New York State for Educational Change. He has authored numerous other books, book chapters, and articles for professional educational journals (e.g., Phi Delta Kappan, Educational Leadership, The College Board Review). He served as a chief speaker and author for the Education Commission of the States during the debate over minimum competency testing for students. He co-authored Americans in Transition, published by The College Board, about the national trend of adults returning to college.

Dr. Brickell served as the American Educational Research Association’s representative to the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation, which published benchmarks for the sound evaluation of educational programs. He served on the panel that chose the original sites for the federally funded educational research and development laboratories and centers; as the longtime chair of the outside review panels that oversaw the work of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory and Research for Better Schools; as the outside evaluator for projects conducted by the National Center for Research in Vocational Education; and as an advisor to the Council on Educational Research and Development, the national association of federally funded educational research labs and centers.

Dr. Brickell directed statewide studies for legislative commissions on planning public and nonpublic education in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He planned and carried out a statewide professional conversation on the redesign of teacher education in Ohio and, later, presided over a months-long debate for the Ohio State Senate on how to improve the cost-effectiveness of public education in the state. He chaired the National Institute of Education’s conference on exemplary youth employment programs and prepared the conference report for the Vice President’s Task Force on Youth Employment.

Previously, Dr. Brickell taught high school English in Illinois, served as an assistant superintendent for the Manhasset (NY) Public Schools, taught at New York University and Stanford University, and served as Associate Dean for Research and Development at Indiana University. He earned a B.S. from The Ohio State University, an M.A. from the University of Chicago, and an M.A. and Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University.